“So, if the fact that your husband left you makes you feel unattractive, just remember penguins get cheated on, and they’re adorable!”

Kunal Nayyar’s role in “The Big Bang Theory” is his first as a regular on a television series, although he previously had a guest starring role on “NCIS,” on the Network. He recently guest starred on the Vince Vaughn produced TBS show “Sullivan & Sons” and the Nickelodeon animated series “Sanjay and Craig.”

During his summer hiatus Nayyar filmed the indie “Dr. Cabbie,” about an unemployed doctor turned cab driver becomes a local hero when he converts his taxi into a mobile clinic. The film also stars Adrianne Palicki and Mircea Monroe. Nayyar lent his voice talents to the animated feature film “Ice Age: Continental Drift,” which was released in 2012. He hosted “A Tribute to Nerds” at the 2011 Montreal “Just for Laughs” Comedy Festival.

His theater acting credits include “Huck and Holden” at the Dahlia Theater in Los Angeles, for which Nayyar was awarded Best Male Lead in a Play on the West Coast by the Garland Awards, and “Love’s Labour’s Lost” at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon, England.

Nayyar also penned the critically acclaimed play, “Cotton Candy,” which continues to run in New Delhi.

In addition to his acting career, Nayyar has also recently signed a deal with Atria Books to create a memoir focused on his experiences growing up in India and his journey to becoming an actor. The book is expected to hit shelves in 2015.

Always a performer, Nayyar began acting in musicals and plays at a young age. After high school, he left India for the United States where he majored in business and took many acting classes at the University of Portland (Portland, Ore.). In his senior year, he was nominated as the best actor in his play, “The Rose Tattoo,” and was given an invitation to the American College Theater Festival (ACTF) to compete in an acting competition, where he eventually won the Mark Twain Award for comic brilliance as well as a fellowship to the prestigious Sundance Theater Lab. He went on to receive his Masters in Fine Arts from Temple University in Philadelphia.

While in school, Nayyar played badminton and competed at state level in the region of North India. He is also a fanatical fan of cricket. He is said to have a killer shoulder shimmy. According to Nayyar, Wikipedia says his name means “one who sees beauty in everything” and it comes from a Himalayan bird known as the Painted Snipe.

He was born in London, England, and spent most of his younger years growing up in New Delhi, India. He currently resides in Los Angeles. Kunal can be followed on Twitter @kunalnayyar.